Identities: Western media must stop weaponizing the hijab to further their agendas

THE EAGLE

“Scream

so that one day

a hundred years from now

another sister will not have to

dry her tears wondering

where in history

she lost her voice”

— Jasmin Kaur

As a child, I would frequently try on the hijab in an effort to mirror my mom. Growing up embracing the sacredness of the hijab, to seeing it transform into a political tool feels like hitting a dead end.

Maybe it was always like this. But for a younger me, it was a hard reality to confront.

Time and time again, the hijab has been one of the foundational elements of colonial feminism. This framework refers to the colonizer civilizing a so-called “Muslim world” by saving Muslim women from their veils. To the outside world, this visible symbol of Islam is a looming danger; an unacceptable force. It’s a rebellion against Western values. 

When the French held Algeria under its colonial rule in the 1950s, they conducted mass unveiling ceremonies to demonstrate Muslim women’s liberation from the veil. “We must first of all conquer the women; we must go and find them behind the veil where they hide themselves …” stated Frantz Fanon, describing the French colonial doctrine. To the French, introducing Western values to Algerian women through clothing was essential to outline this liberation. The idea of the “poor Muslim woman” was officially born. Through this trope, colonizers could justify their violent imperialist project and destabilize the fundamental structures of Islamic societies. 

The hijab became a global weapon, its destruction unthinkable, so unthinkable that wars would be justified under its name.